Pilot Amal Larhlid climbed aboard her Piper PA-28 this week to pay respect to the late Queen Elizabeth II and raise money for Hospice UK with the world’s largest portrait of the Queen. The two hour flight covered 413 kilometers, creating a portrait 105 km tall and 63 km wide northwest of London.
Planning the portrait
Before taking to the skies, Amal says she converted a portrait of the Queen into a format recognized by flight planning program ForeFlight. While that made planning the route easier, Amal still needed to be cautious of restricted airspace along the path. Larhlid also planned the route on charts manually as a backup, using landmarks.
Planning also included multiple practice flights to get the feel for flying the required track and turns. Weather was the major factor as it scuttled her first attempt earlier this week.
Laser focused on the track
The weather for the flight on 6 October was better than the initially planned day of 4 October, but Amal says that 30 knot winds made the ride “sporty,” but calls the whole flight “great fun!”
The winds made the tight turns necessary to complete portions of the flight, especially the crown, the hardest part of the flight. In addition to being “laser focused on the track,” Amal also had to make sure she stayed in contact with air traffic control as the flight path took her across areas of restricted airspace.
“As an ambassador for Hospice UK I wanted to raise money for an organization that does important work and pay respect to a symbol of service and selflessness,” says Larhlid. Having just completed the flight, she’s 20% of the way to her goal of £5000.
